CoupleCo: Working With Your Spouse For Fun & Profit

Latest Episodes:

How To Become YouTube Stars: Dirt Farmer Jay & Dirt Farmer Maggie, Part 2 Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

Back with YouTube sensations, Dirt Farmer Jay and Dirt Farmer Maggie. Their central theme of authentic living leads to plenty of revenue from videos with millions of views each. We hear about the power of mutual respect. There's an odd twist on the question, "How does having entrepreneurial parents affect the kids?" It's also likely that the craziest thing ever to happen in your business did not involve a taser. They share a pitfall to avoid that comes from their corporate days—and is both important and scalable. We discuss getting beyond defining success to seeking significance. And there's important advice for anyone who thinks they want to go into business with a spouse.

How To Become YouTube Stars: Dirt Farmer Jay & Dirt Farmer Maggie, Part 1 Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

When you lose not just a job, but your career, how do you reinvent yourself? A career counselor will probably never say: Become a YouTube star! But that's exactly what Dirt Farmer Jay and Dirt Farmer Maggie did. Finding themselves collateral victims in a hostile takeover could've led to early retirement. Instead, it has led to their accountant saying things like, "Stop making so much money!" But, after spending much of their careers together, they found they were facing new challenges. Like, the problems of doing a creative job together. And when you're working in a creative capacity with the significant other, who are you actually talking to? Spouse? Business partner? Authority? And then, there are the hazards of trying to do everything yourselves. Not to mention there are the hazards of having your very own star-struck YouTube fans. Join us as we draw back curtain and step inside the YouTube empire of Dirt Farmer Jay and Dirt Farmer Maggie in Tooele, Utah.

Remembering A Braveheart Life: Jill & Spencer Wright of The Pod Mill Feb 26, 2020

Show notes

This is an unfortunate first for Coupleco. The Pod Mill is a dynamic, aggressively optimistic podcast production studio in Salt Lake City. We sat down with CoupleCo Spencer Wright and Jill Hyde Wright last year. They were lovely, generous and open with their story. They'd risen to challenges that include their adopted, special-needs son, and Jill's life with a transplanted heart. We're sorry to report that half a year later, the world has lost Jill. Her obituary indicates her passing "was due to complications following a difficult yet successful surgery." In Jill's honor, we're presenting highlights from our conversation together--a discussion that underscores the power of the love that can go into a CoupleCo.

Producing Love Around The World: Angie & Davor Rostuhar, Filmmakers, Part 2 Feb 19, 2020

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Back with Angie and Davor Rostuhar, the Croatians who used their year-long honeymoon to shoot a documentary about love around the world. In this episode, we're going to look at the vital capacity for members of a CoupleCo to endure, forgive and forget. And when we asked about the craziest thing that's ever happened to them in circling the globe, we got the challenges of an entire African nation. Davor and Angie have an interesting rule about fighting. There's also an unusual discussion about empathy. And what are the benefits of surviving the intensity of working together? Or breaking up because of the job—and continuing to work together? And how can the best date night possibly involve arguing? This is one couple with a lot of miles and stories to share.

Producing Love Around The World: Angie & Davor Rostuhar, Filmmakers, Part 1 Feb 12, 2020

Show notes

Angie and Davor's honeymoon is a year-long global journey, shooting a cross-cultural documentary about love. He's a National geographic-seasoned photographer who interviewed her for a job. He also didn't hire her, because he saw more there than just an employee. Eventually, he proposed, and they conceived of this project in an unusual place. And this movie is anything but an ode to romance. No hearts and flowers. This is love, warts and all. Even forbidden love. This was a new professional experience—learning how to become equal partners in a business relationship. And how do you tell the story of love in everyplace from Los Angeles to the Amazon? And what if you're in a country of one and a half billion people, and nobody wants to talk to you? And where does the Yakuza for Christ fit into all this, anyway?

Difficult Conversations Made Easier: Belinda Pruyne of Business Innovation Group Feb 05, 2020

Show notes

Purposeful and intentional communication is especially important for a couple in business together. The stakes are so much higher than just business. We're talking with Belinda Pruyne, previously a global Executive Vice President at Grey Advertising, one of the world's biggest advertising agencies. Today, she runs her own consulting firm, Business Innovation Group. One of the things Belinda specializes in is working with small business owners to become BIG Picture Leaders. We're going to be talking communication tips, and how to have those difficult conversations. And no, this is not about winning an argument. It's about having a productive discussion. This simple strategy makes it so much easier.

Construction Couplepreneurs Go West and Go Big: Vicky & Jim Fitlow of Re-Bath UT & CO, Part 2 Jan 29, 2020

Show notes

We are continuing our conversation with Vicky and Jim Fitlow of Re-Bath Utah and Re-Bath Colorado. This franchise CoupleCo is crushing it in bathroom remodel. It's a choice they made not because they came for the construction trades, but as a business decision for the lifestyle it would provide. Vicky is a lawyer, and Jim was a ski racing coach. They were expanding the business, doing big things, and the recession hit—sending their big things into a tailspin. But, they went with the belief that they had become too big to fail, and they were obliged to move forward. As a result, they've flourished, unlike others who pulled in the oars and shortened sail. In this episode, we're going to be talking about success, including an unusual definition of the word. And as a business owner, what about leaving town and making yourself unreachable? Is that fabulous—or dangerous? And the biggest question of all: Will they win the Ginsu knife?

Construction Couplepreneurs Go West and Go Big: Vicky & Jim Fitlow of Re-Bath UT & CO, Part 1 Jan 22, 2020

Show notes

This is a tale of two very different people, in a very different place, grappling with some very different challenges and overcoming enormous odds. He was a ski racer and ski coach. She's a lawyer. Vicky and Jim Fitlow do not come from construction. Having a construction franchise was a quality-of-life decision. And the operation has become huge. They own and operate Re-Bath Utah and Re-Bath Colorado. And yes, this our second CoupleCo convo with a Re-Bath franchisee—but this one is very different. We discuss how they weathered the economic downturn by being "too big to fail." There are keen insights on what happens when you're going big—and the economy decides it's going big in the other direction. And yes, Ultimate Frisbee plays a part...

Comin' Out Swinging: Luke Hinz And Maryguenn Vellinga of Rise Boxing, Park City, UT, Part 2 Jan 15, 2020

Show notes

Back with Olympic-caliber boxer Maryguenn Vellinga, and her big-mountain skier husband, Luke Hinz, recorded in the boxing ring at their gym, Rise Boxing. In part one, we established that getting into the ring, skiing big-mountain chutes, and starting your own business all take courage. We also talked about how these couple entrepreneurs were influenced by their own entrepreneur parents. Luke's dad grew a hauling business from one truck to over 100. Maryguenn's mom started a watermelon farm in arid, rural Utah. So how does being the offspring of entrepreneurial parents who became entrepreneurial parents impact raising their own kids in the business? That and more, as we talk to two of the mellowest, most likable people you can imagine…even though they can come out swingin'.

Comin' Out Swinging: Luke Hinz And Maryguenn Vellinga of Rise Boxing, Park City, UT, Part 1 Jan 08, 2020

Show notes

We recorded this interview in a real, live boxing ring with Luke Hinz and his wife, Olympic boxing hopeful Maryguenn Vellinga, of RISE Boxing. She's a high-caliber boxer, which sounds intense. He's a big mountain skier. Whether it's facing off against a boxer in the ring, or against a deadly mountain, these are courageous people. It also takes courage to open a boxing gym in a town most noted for skiing, mountain biking and fly fishing. They wanted a franchise, but felt it limited them. They've embraced a hybrid business model that offers both fitness and contact boxing. It's a career path left turn with satisfying results. She was working to help the underprivileged, but finds she's more able to help people through boxing. And as a competitive big-mountain skier, Luke became a huge champion for this project. Is it stressful working with an Olympic hopeful wife? Or, being an Olympic hopeful with kids? And, what's it like having a husband into the high-adrenaline adventure of skiing big mountain chutes? Also, when there's a distinctive and specific company culture, you have to make sure that all your employees buy in…